


moments in between

by Betu



Category: Alias (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-16 22:10:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11262018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Betu/pseuds/Betu
Summary: Irina tries and fails to stay away from LA in the beginning of S3.





	moments in between

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to back up the few fics I have written on AO3 just in case.

You try to stay away. You really do. But the pull is too strong, even for you. Your contacts tell you that Sydney is alive, but you don’t believe it until you see photographic proof of that.

Your daughter is alive. Your husband is free.

For the first time in over two years, you feel like you can breathe again.

You know that you shouldn’t go to Los Angeles. You know that the CIA and NSC and who knows who else will be keeping a close eye on both of them for the time being, but you can’t resist forever. Even The Man has her limits.

You manage to wait for three weeks, after that your willpower breaks. You travel to Los Angeles, taking more precautions than you ever have in your life. You’ve put Jack in prison two times now, you refuse to do it for the third time.

You watch your daughter (alivealivealive) eat dinner with Eric Weiss. You see her sadness and disconnectedness radiate off of her, and your heart breaks for her. You wish you could gather her in your arms like you did when she was six years old and tell her that everything will be okay. It would be a lie but you still want to do it. But then she smiles at something the man says and it’s the same warm smile you remember. Hope rekindles in your heart. Maybe she will recover from this after all. If anyone can, it would be your daughter. She has always had more strength than anyone you’ve ever known.

You watch her for hours, just taking her in. You know you can’t reveal yourself. There’s too much danger in that. But you can’t make yourself leave.

When it starts to get dark, you finally pull yourself away and leave. You find yourself drawn to Jack’s apartment. If going to see Sydney was foolish, this is pure recklessness, you know this. Still, you quietly enter his apartment. It’s empty and dark and still bears the signs that no one lived here for over a year.

A fleeting ridiculous thought of making dinner crosses your mind, an echo of times long past, but you ignore it. Dinner won’t magically fix everything. Also, you cannot betray your location.

So you wander around the apartment aimlessly, looking for signs of your husband in this place but find it difficult to see anything specifically ‘Jack’ about this place. It’s just a space to sleep for him.

He, much like you, hasn’t had a home in years.

You find yourself lying on his bed, exhausted. You don’t know exactly how long you stare at the ceiling of his darkened room when you hear him enter. He knows someone is in his apartment, you hope he will not shoot first and ask questions later.

He appears in the doorway, his gun firmly pointed at you.

Your lips twitch wryly but you say nothing.

'Most people call ahead.’ He says as he lowers the gun. 

'Most people don’t have several intelligence agencies watching their every move.’ You counter easily, not moving from the bed.

He sighs and you see how exhausted he looks. He shrugs off his jacket and places the gun on the top of the bureau to his left. He walks over to the bed, as he loosens his tie, and sits down by your hip. You sit up, bringing your torso flush with his side.

'Irina,’ he starts to say something but you decide it can wait a bit as you place your hand on the back of his neck and kiss him. He shifts towards you and pulls you closer. A few minutes later when you finally manage to pull yourself out of the kiss, you find that you’re straddling him and he has his arms wrapped around you.

'Hi,’ you whisper as you rest your forehead against him.

'Hi,’ he whispers back, looking into your eyes.

'Missed you,’ you dare to admit, well aware that he may not believe you. He has no real reason to.

'I missed you too,’ he gives you a small smile and relief courses through you.

'I saw Sydney,’ you admit.

'Irina,’ he starts but you cut him off.

'I know. But I had to see her myself.’ You close your eyes. 'I had to.’

'I know.’ And you know he does. 'Did she see you?’ He rubs his hands up and down your spine.

'No.’

He falls silent after that. Neither of you move, unwilling to break this calm between you.

'I wanted to get you out.’ You keep your eyes closed.

'I told you not to.’

'Yes. I still had a plan. Well, half of a plan. I was coming to get you.’

'And then what?’ He asks, almost cautiously.

'I don’t know. I didn’t think further than that.’

'Irina Derevko didn’t have a plan?’ His voice is teasing and you huff out a laugh.

You open your eyes and see that he is smiling at you. 'Shut up.’ You kiss him again, this time more briefly. 'I couldn’t bear the thought of you being alone there.’ And you couldn’t bear being alone anymore either, but you won’t say that. 

'It may have been too fatalistic of me to make you promise not to come get me.’ He allows.

'Nice of you to admit that.’ You reply.

'But I’m out now. And she’s alive.’ He says the second part with wonder and joy in his voice.

'Yes.’ You press yourself closer to him. Your new-found ability to breathe makes you hopeful of many things. You hope that maybe you and Sydney and Jack still form a family, no matter how complicated. You hope that you and Jack still have a marriage that can be salvaged.

'You being here is dangerous.’ So many meanings in that short sentence.

'Yes.’ You look at his eyes. 'Do you want me to leave?’

He stares back unflinchingly. 'No.’

You kiss him with a smile and push him back on the bed. 'Good.’ For this night at least, you have no intention of leaving.


End file.
